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Highway-Rail Grade Crossing Safety

Saving Lives

One of the initiatives the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration is undertaking to save lives on the Nation's highways is to intensify our focus on highway-rail grade crossing safety. FMCSAhas launched a nationwide educational campaign to remind commercial motor vehicle drivers of the precautions they must take at highway-rail grade crossings.

Highway-Rail Grade Crossings

A highway-rail grade crossing is an intersection where a roadway crosses railroad tracks at the same level or grade. Such crossings may be encountered on both public and private roads. There are more than 250,000 such crossings in the U.S.

Although the highway safety picture has improved considerably over the last decade, people are killed every year and more than are injured at grade crossings. Of the more than highway-rail grade crossing incidents annually, around 500 involve trucks or tractor-trailers. This translates to an average of about 10 per week. Although collisions involving buses at grade crossings are infrequent, results of such incidents can be tragic.

Safety Information

This Web site provides a compendium of highway-rail grade crossing safety information for drivers, motor carriers, and users of commercial motor vehicles. It is a "one stop shop" for readers who want to learn more about the critical importance of rail grade crossing safety.